Walk: Seals on show at Muckle Roe

📌 Muckle Roe, Shetland
★★★

Muckle Roe (Big Red Island) is a nearly uninhabited island connected to the Shetland mainland near Brae by a short bridge over Roe Sound. A minor road follows the east coast but the most interesting scenery is on the quiet western side around the Hams of Muckle Roe – rusty-colour cliffs and sea stacks alternating with small beaches make this area a delight, frequented by numerous seals and the odd breeding seabird in summer. Look out for the ruined buildings and mill above Town Loch (and later at Burg); the former are all that remain of an abandoned crofting settlement overlooking the water here. Getting there over the moorland interior of the island is tough and pathless, but well worth the effort.

📷 Chronological photo guide

🌍 Location

📌 Start / finish at Scarfataing Cemerery, Muckle Roe

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: HU 333642

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 60.360113,-1.399083

❌ No public transport within 1 mi

🚗 Car park – accessed by 0.5 mi gravel track

📝 Key info

▶ 13 km / 8 mi | ▲ 500 m | ⌛ 5.5-6.5 hr

Features: △ South Ward (169 m); △ Mid Ward (172 m, sub-2000′ Marilyn); 💧 Mill Loch & Norse mill; 🌊 Hams of Muckle Roe; 💧 Burki Waters

⬤ Tough | Bits & pieces of tracks & rough paths, but mostly pathless. Mixture of terrain from grassy coastline to boggy moorland.

➡️ Anticlockwise circuit with extensions to various headlands: start – South Ward – Mid Ward – North Ward – Mill Loch – Norse mill – Town Loch – Swabi Stack – Big Geo of Stromness via Muckle Roe coastline – Burn of Cooses at 🧭 HU 305654 – Burki Waters (lower & higher) – rejoin outward track south of South Ward – return to start by outward route (or similar)

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: Eider ducks and lots of seals at South Ham; cormorants and shags nesting at North Ham; sheep, geese and other seabirds.

Weather: Mostly cloudy with low cloud on South Ward, but dry with occasional brighter spells later on. Fairly light winds, cool.

May 2014